Thursday, May 21, 2015
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Will Andrew Haringer become the latest six-time champion – our fourth since April 1?
He’ll have to come from behind yet again – for a record fifth time.
|
Andrew Haringer |
Choyon Manjrekar |
Laurie McNeill |
| 11,800 | 18,800 | 7,600 |
Tonight’s Final Jeopardy! category is:
| 19TH CENTURY AUTHORS |
One amusing aspect of tonight’s game: Andrew knew the Twenty-First Amendment but not the First Amendment. (If you want a leg up on early constitutional amendments, check out my Fact Primer.)
First-order calculations
Second doubles up
If Andrew doubles his score, he’ll have 23,600.
To cover this all-in wager, Choyon will need to wager 4,800.
| Andrew |
Choyon |
Laurie | |||
| 11,800 | 18,800 | 7,600 | |||
| 11,800 | 4,800 | ||||
| 23,600 | 23,600 | ||||
| min | max | min | max | min | max |
| 4,800 | |||||
An incorrect response with that wager will leave Choyon with 14,000.
To get above his total, Andrew must wager at least 2,200.
Laurie must respond correctly to have a shot, so all-in is the way to go.
| Andrew |
Choyon |
Laurie | |||
| 11,800 | 18,800 | 7,600 | |||
| 2,200 | 4,800 | 6,400 | |||
| 14,000 | 14,000 | 14,000 | |||
| min | max | min | max | min | max |
| 2,200 | 4,800 | 6,400 | |||
A successful doubling will put Laurie at 15,200.
To cover this, Andrew should wager at least 3,400.
Choyon could wager at most 3,600, I guess, but might as well take it into his own hands.
| Andrew |
Choyon |
Laurie | |||
| 11,800 | 18,800 | 7,600 | |||
| 3,400 | 3,600 | 7,600 | |||
| 15,200 | 15,200 | 15,200 | |||
| min | max | min | max | min | max |
| 3,400 | 4,800 | 6,400 | |||
| 3,600 | |||||
For Choyon, capping his at 7,000 (so as not to fall below Andrew) is a good idea, too, although I’d say he’s safe up to 9,200.
What actually happened
| Andrew | Choyon | Laurie | |||
| 11,800 | 18,800 | 7,600 | |||
| 11,800 | 5,000 | 5,000 | |||
| 23,600 | 23,800 | 2,600 | |||
| min | max | ||||
| 11,800 | 4,801 | 6,999 | 7,600 | ||
| 3,599 | |||||
Looks like I was wrong about that last part – Laurie didn’t even try to win.
I used to color such wagers black, but someone pointed out that associating “black” with “really bad” could unintentionally reinforce racial stereotypes. Although that certainly wasn’t my intention, I agree with that view, so I’ve changed the label to “gray”.
Congrats to Andrew for a great run – we’ll see him in the TOC. And congrats to Choyon, a longtime member of JBoard under the handle ihavejeoprosy.
The Final Jeopardy! clue
| 19TH CENTURY AUTHORS |
| IN AN ESSAY, HE WROTE, “I WOULD RATHER SIT ON A PUMPKIN AND HAVE IT ALL TO MYSELF THAN BE CROWDED ON A VELVET CUSHION” |
[spoiler]Who was Henry David Thoreau? (in Walden)[/spoiler]
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